Monthly Archives: February 2009

Wild Rise & Shine: Video

Sipping on my coffee and chasing flies, I waited for the Dogs to rise and shine. They seemed dead to the world as the sun rose above the tree tops. It was after 07:00 am and I had already encountered a Hyena on the road less than a 100 meters away from where the dogs were sleeping, but the Dogs were oblivious to what was going on. That Hyena had a good smell around my car then pushed off after checking the area for any interesting scraps to eat.

Maybe they needed the rest if they had still hunted when I left them yesterday at sunset; regardless, I had now been waiting for two hours for them to seize the day. I found myself testing out a natural insect repellent’s ability to immobilize the flies swarming around me. The pump action spray nozzle does nothing more than wet their wings, leaving me to deliver the final blow. I put up a brave fight, but it was a never ending battle and I forced myself to ignore the critters.

So eventually we had movement and I thought for sure they would be hunting. This was not to be, they moved a hundred meters or so to a nearby pan and took another nap. They also seem to be in grooming mode, doing a lot of ear cleaning and Jiggy is showing a lot of affection towards Puzzles.

Just before I was sure they were staying there for the day they humored me with a nice fresh dip in the pan, followed by some sporting play. Well, they saved me from some hard negotiating of the Mopane trees and I was happy to spend the time chilling in the bush. The afternoon was a different story, they really put my off-road driving abilities to the test, but it seems like they went to sleep hungry.

Swarming Quelea: Video

A morning sunrise un-obscured by cloud cover and misty rain, was the first thing I noticed this morning. A mischievous smile stretched across my face and I ventured out to find some action. With the rain drying up, well let’s just say not pouring down anymore, I can get back out there and not worry too much about getting all our gear drenched. I still have to be careful which roads to take; one wrong move could mean a few hours wasted digging out the mud. Another thing that has dried up is my hay fever, it’s like someone turned off the tap deep in my nasal cavity – this is a good thing.

The pollen from the tall grass really aggravates my sinuses, so the dampness has brought relief to that problem in a big way. Many animals don’t really like moving through thick damp bush, so just driving on the roads we are seeing plenty of Zebras and antelope.

I’ve been on a mission to track down Manyari, who will hopefully lead me to Magwaza and her cubs. As it stands, I’ve had no joy there, but If I keep checking the Banyani area I’m positive she will eventually show face – this is their territory after all.

The Banyini area and further south is absolutely swarming with Quelea, these birds come in by the thousands nesting through distances that stretch over 5 km. They tackle the grass seed for food, but destroy much more than they consume, which they also use for building nests. It is really interesting to watch, they are also preyed upon by eagles and other birds of prey, so I’m hoping to get lucky with some predation.

The dogs were being the “ultimate predators” as usual this afternoon. The pups showed their agility by taking down something small, I only saw them take off after it, but they were stinking of a kill when they found their way back to Jiggy and Puzzles, who patiently waited for them to finish their tit-bit. They moved into some dense bush and I left them as the sun was setting – not a bad way to end the day.

Tails of Joy: Video

The weather looked ominous at dawn but thankfully the rain stayed away all day and by sunset the skies were again clear.
I found the dogs still in the north west. Obviously hunting is good in this area, otherwise I’m sure they’d have moved on.
They were in the bush when I found them but not far from the road and so I gingerly went off road with the ground really wet underfoot, just waiting to get stuck.

Puzzles was good to me taking the pack along the road for some time. It was only on the chase that everything went hay why! Of course I couldn’t keep up and I didn’t bother with going off road.

Jiggy’s signal took me a long long way west and I was just about to catch up with him when down I went. Another blown tyre!
Jiggy’s signal stayed in the same place the whole time I changed tyres, so I was sure he’d killed.
But as my luck would have it, just after I’d finished changing my tyre, his signal moved back east. Confident he must have killed I scoured the area back and forth and eventually found his kill, an adult male impala. It didn’t look like he’d fed much before heading off to fetch the pack.

I had time to set up to film, ready for their arrival. The pups came in long before mom and dad. They’d followed Jiggy’s scent trail all the way back to the kill.
7 pups arrived and were feeding frantically when suddenly the approach of ‘danger’ sent them scattering. It was a false alarm, Puzzles was approaching.

The pack fed frantically for about 10mins and with all really well fed they then settled in for the next few hours slowly chewing away at anything that was chewable.
There was no reason for them to move on and they spent the whole day here and didn’t even budge in the evening. One happy bunch of dogs!

I’m heading off tomorrow to my home town, White River, where the local wildlife society is holding the premier of our Series, SAFARI SISTERS. Mark will keep you updated on the goings on up here.

Rain on the plain: Video

The rains kept coming all night and into the day. Realising I would be in for another day stuck in the office, I prepared myself for getting wet. I covered all my equipment in the car, taking only the essential stuff with me and headed out in the rain at dawn.
I was hoping to follow up on the dogs but that area was so wet I hadn’t a chance.

Heading east I didn’t get any further than the airstrip where this huge herd of impala were grazing. The rains had let up and the sun was almost out. I took the time to strip and dry what I could. But I was really wanting to film animals in the rain and now it had stopped.
Massive flocks of Red-billed Quelea arrived today and will no doubt start their madness at building nests. They come through in the long clouds of thousands of birds in search of rich grass pastures.
It wasn’t long and a dark heavy low slung cloud advanced on us. I was ready for it with camera out and under it’s cover, but no cover for the operator.

It was almost as if hitting the airstrip triggered the cloud to burst and the drenching started. My camera was a happy camper managing to stay well and truly dry. Thankfully.
I was in the same boat as the impala out there, just sitting it out until the storm had passed. Thankfully it’s still pretty warm.
For half an hour this cloud released itself on us leaving no doubt that I was totally soaked. All very fresh and invigorating!

As the rains stopped and the clouds lifted I tried to dry what I could and headed back home only to have another mother of a cloud follow me all the way and let rip just as I got home. And so it rained on and off all day.
I was really bleak though that I didn’t get a chance to find the wild dogs today.

Frenzied Feeding: Video

The dogs had another good day of hunting, but still not helping me in my quest to capture any little part of the hunt.
They’re still hunting in the north west where the Grewia thickets really are thickets. It only takes them to run 30m and they’re out of sight. In that thick stuff I just can’t keep up. So I end up following Jiggy’s signal, and so it’s not surprising I find Jiggy on kills more often that I find the other dogs. But then too he IS a great hunter. Especially if one thinks that for at least a week he had to provide for Puzzles when she first gave birth to these pups and was den bound for a week or more.

Today Jiggy took me on a long one and I wasn’t sure what I was following. Was it just him or the whole pack or who. I must have been keeping pretty good pace with him as I found him on his impala kill, a young female, and he was still feeding. Usually Jiggy feeds quickly, less than 5minutes, and is off to call the pack.

He fed a few minutes before leaving me to look after his kill. Not the case really. But I often feel responsible for his kill if some kleptoparasite should come along wanting to take over his hard won prize. Of course I can’t do anything, but then I think Jiggy loses faith in me probably thinking I took his kill. Hopefully the other animal’s scent in the area tells him the true story.

Jiggy was back about half an hour later with the pack and in their feeding frenzy the kill was all but gone in about 5mins. The pack lay around chewing and sucking whatever bones were too big to crush.
Puzzles took them to a pan to rest up for the day.
Some of the mopanie trees in the area were totally denuded of leaves. A sure sign the worms are out. Mopanie worms are large spiky caterpillars that infect Mopanie in some areas in their millions and are a favourite food for tribal people in Africa. They’re eaten raw, dried or even fried and in some cases are even tinned they are so plentiful. On the road sides at this time of year you will people selling them dried by the bucket load.

Jiggy was probably the most well fed of the pack, and wasn’t keen to move on this afternoon when Puzzles took them hunting. And soon they’d shaken him off. Of course he was the only one I could follow, even though I lost sight of him most of the time, but caught up to him just when he found the rest of the pack on another impala kill. He didn’t even bother to scrounge around for scraps.

That was all yesterday, and today it’s been raining all day. Yes I’ve been stuck in the office all day. I should survive, but hope I don’t have to do this for too many days. The sad thing is the forecast is rain for a couple more days.

Thunder Birds: Video

The luck came rolling in as the dogs had a real party today.
Jiggy was the first to kill and had the young impala all to himself. But that lasted only briefly when an overfed hyaena arrived. Jiggy wasted no time in chasing the hyaena briefly and then leaving. He knew he really didn’t have a chance one on one, especially when there was a carcass at stake.

The rest of the pack were about half a kilometre away feeding on another kill. I suspect Puzzles killed as she was very well fed.
The pups cleaned up there in no time at all and all still hungry were quick to greet dad and then head off searching for his kill. The pups were now over excited twittering frantically as they followed Jiggy’s scent trail.
The hyaena moved off hearing their approach, knowing he was outnumbered.

While the pups disposed of this carcass too, the hyaena came lurking back. But Jiggy was there to intercept it and flew out the bush at the hyaena. It’s screaming yeowls brought Puzzles in to back up her man. Between them the hyaena got a goooood hiding, eventually taking refuge with its backside deep in thicket.
When the dogs left the area, the hyaena left out the back door.
It wasn’t far from here, the dogs found the rotting carcass of an eland calf, probably a couple of days old and already having been fed on. This was probably what had the hyaena so full.

The pack spent the next hour chewing on this carcass with long teeth, but they kept chewing until they really didn’t have space for anything else.
Puzzles led them off east to rest up at a pan.
Of course that was them done for the day, and with good shade and water they’ll be spending the night there too.
A herd of buffalo visited the pan in the late afternoon, but not even the pups were interested in them.

I met Mark on the airstrip at sunset where these Ground Hornbills were feeding. I just love these birds. They’re hot on the agenda for one of my next films.
The hornbills were feeding among a herd of impala where the lambs were testing their courage trying to chase off the birds without them themselves being scared. All the while the hornbills booming their thunderous call across the bushveld. At dusk they headed for safety to roost in a nearby tree, leaving the impala grounded and at risk to all those nocturnal predators.

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